1. Field Of The Invention
The invention concerns application control in communication terminals having an exchangeable integrated circuit care.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a multi-application smart card many applications may be active simultaneously. When a user with a multi-application card activates the smart card the user may wish to have the possibility to continue the sessions which were active when the card was last de-activated.
The invention is an integrated circuit card for use in a communication terminal for re-activating applications which were active when the card was de-activated.
The integrated circuit card is for use in a communication terminal, the integrated circuit card having a controller, a memory, and a user-interface for communication with a controller of the communication terminal, the integrated circuit card controller controls a plurality of client application programs which are able to be activated selectively by the user on the communication terminal, the integrated circuit card comprises a non-volatile memory included in the memory; the integrated circuit card controller allows the user to selectively activate and deactivate applications included in the plurality of applications; and the integrated circuit card controller stores information about the status of the selectively activated client application programs in the non-volatile memory. Hereby the applications of e.g. a phone will be re-activated in the same state as when the card was de-activated. It is important to note that the card is responsible for storing the information about the reactivation or the default configuration of applications. When the card is transferred from a first to a second communication terminal the same applications will be re-activated in the second communication terminal as were de-activated in the first communication terminal.
The invention is also applicable when the user wishes to start the same configurable session (thus called default configuration) each time the user activates the communication terminal.
Preferably, when activating the communication terminal, the controller of the integrated circuit card reads the information about the status of the selectively activated client application programs and activates the applications included in the plurality of applications accordingly. Thereby the client application programs started up by a phone supporting the invention will have the same status as when the phone was switched off or having the default configuration.
The status of the selectively activated client application programs is stored as a Data Object containing a TAG field identifying the Data Object, a LENGTH field indicating the overall length of the Data Object, and a Value field (Data Element) containing the status information. This Data Object refers to a list of applications supported by the card being stored in an elementary directory file of e.g. a SIM card for GSM or for third generation smart cards.
According to an alternative embodiment, a list of applications supported by the card is stored in an elementary directory file and the status information present in the Data Object refers to the list of applications. The number of applications is restricted to the maximum number, and status of the selectively activated client application programs is included in a Data Object containing a TAG field identifying the Data Object; a Length field and a Value field (Data Element) containing the status information.
The integrated circuit card controller allows the user to selectively activate and deactivate applications included in the plurality of applications, and the integrated circuit card controller stores information about the status of the selectively activated client application programs in the non-volatile memory. When the card is transferred from a first to a second communication terminal, the same applications well be re-activated in the second communication terminal as were de-activated in the first communication terminal.
According to the preferred embodiment, the integrated circuit card may be used as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM Card) for a portable phone. Basically the integrated circuit card may be provided as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) for the GSM specification as described in the specification xe2x80x9cDigital cellular telecommunication system (Phase 2+); Specification of the Subscriber Identity Module-Mobile Equipment (SIM-ME) interface GSM 11.11 version 7.1.0 Release 1998xe2x80x9d from the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI). Section 11 of the GSM document defines the application protocol for GSM network operation involving the SIM interface with the communication terminal. Section 10 of the GSM document defines the content and the structure of the record stored in the memory of the SIM card.
However, the invention is related to Integrated Circuit Cards (ICC) and the invention may find use in W-CDMA (third generation cellular communication). Integrated circuit cards are standardized in the xe2x80x9cInternational Standard ISO/IEC 7816-5, Identification Cards -Integrated circuit(s) cards with contactsxe2x80x9d from the International Electrotechnical Commission. Section 5 of this document handles the structure of Data Objects stored as records in an ICC memory (SIM card memory).
Smart cards and their operation are described in chapter 4 of the book Smart Cards written by Josxc3xa9Luis Zoreda and Jose Manuel Otxc3x3n, Artech House, Inc, 1994.
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a preferred embodiment of a hand portable phone using an integrated circuit card according to the invention.
FIG. 2 schematically shows the essential parts of a telephone for communication with a cellular network.
FIG. 3 schematically shows the essential parts of an integrated circuit card according to the invention.
FIG. 4 shows the structure of a Data Object according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 shows the structure of a Data Object according to a first alternative embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 shows the structure of a Data Object according to a second alternative embodiment of the invention.